Isaiah Nathanial, Class of 2004, is a former four-year Hornet basketball player, has produced a documentary film about the famed 16th Street pick-up basketball in North Philadelphia that produced a number of players who would go on to compete in college and professionally, including in the NBA and overseas leagues.

DSU Alum to Premiere Film "16th and Philly" Feb. 11 at DSU

Posted: February 4, 2014

DSU alumnus and filmmaker Isaiah Nathaniel will make his alma mater a part of the premiere tour of his new documentary 16th and Philly when it screens on campus at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11 in the Longwood Auditorium of the Bank of America Building.

The screening is free and open to the public.

Mr. Nathaniel, who also played basketball for DSU from 2000-2004, has done a documentary on the famed North Central Philadelphia Basket League – known commonly in Philly as the 16th Street League, because its outdoor courts are located on the corner of 16th Street and West Susquehanna Ave. in North Philadelphia. During its prominent years of the early 1980s to the early 2000s, it was considered one of the top pick-up leagues on the East Coast.

The league produced a number of players who went on to compete in college, overseas and in professional leagues and the NBA such as Hank Gathers, Bo Kimball, Doug Overton, Lionel Simmons, Ronald “Flip” Murray, Cuttino Mobley, Aaron “AO” Owens, Rodney “Hot Rod” Odrick and many others.

Mr. Nathaniel said the documentary was made to honor the memory and legacy of the 16th Street League and preserve some of the stories.

“Anytime people talk about basketball in Philly, there’s always some who remember and talk about the 16th Street League,” Mr. Nathaniel said. “Whether you witnessed it as a player or a spectator, it never leaves you.”

Following the film, there will be a question-and-answer period between the audience and the filmmaker.